Facebook algorithm analysis and foreign trade business operation optimization

This paper delves into the algorithmic mechanism of Facebook, the world's largest social media platform, revealing how it provides users with personalized and diverse content recommendations based on their behavior and preferences.

In today's world, algorithms have become ubiquitous, affecting our lives all the time. Whether we are searching online, browsing social media feeds, or listening to music recommendations, we are actually guided and influenced by algorithms. Algorithms even sometimes know more about our preferences and habits than we do ourselves. Every day, much of what we do is manipulated by algorithms. These mathematical formulas operate like invisible forces without us even realizing it, silently influencing our interactions with the tasks we want to accomplish. While this may sound a bit scary, overall, algorithms exist to help us. Social media algorithms are central to influencing many aspects of our lives.

Although algorithms sometimes misunderstand humans and make mistakes or biases, they are constantly learning and evolving. Much of the way we access and consume news and information is thanks to algorithms, whether it's a search on Google or a swipe of the screen on Facebook, the news and information presented to us is determined by a mathematical formula based on two elements:

Algorithmic quality: Whether the content meets certain quality standards.

History: How we have behaved and reacted to certain content in the past.

This means that whether by design or personal choice, social media algorithms enable us to create filters to see what we want to see and weed out what we're not interested in or don't need. On top of that, there is the idea that "algorithms can lead to polarization of information and bias." Therefore, it is important to understand algorithms and know when they work. The importance of algorithms is also reflected in a Harvard Business School study, which found that people are more inclined to follow algorithmic advice than human advice. That's why it's important to take a deeper look at the algorithmic mechanics of Facebook, the world's largest social media platform, to see how it utilizes algorithms to provide content recommendations to its users.

Introduction to the Facebook Algorithm

The Facebook algorithm is a computer program that provides users with personalized and diverse content recommendations based on their behavior and preferences. Its goal is to get users to spend more time on the platform, increase engagement and satisfaction, and thus increase Facebook's revenue and reach.The Facebook algorithm influences the kinds of content users see on Facebook, including news feeds, stories, views, explores, marketplaces, groups, events, and more. The algorithm is not a single formula but a complex system of multiple sub-algorithms, each of which is responsible for processing different types or sources of content.

How the Facebook algorithm works

The Facebook algorithm works in four steps to recommend content for users:

Inventory: Collects all the content that can be displayed to the user, including information from friends, public posts, groups, ads, and so on.

Signals: Analyze the characteristics or attributes of each piece of content, including the content itself (type, topic, length, quality, etc.), the publisher of the content (relationship with the user, frequency of interactions, reputation, etc.), and the recipient of the content.

Predictions: Predict how users are likely to react to each piece of content, including clicking, liking, commenting, sharing, favoriting, reporting, etc., as well as how long they will stay on each piece of content and how fast they will scroll through it.

Scores: Based on the predictions, each piece of content is given a score that reflects its importance or attractiveness to the user, and then it is sorted according to the score and displayed to the user.The Facebook algorithm is constantly updated and optimized based on user behavior and feedback to improve the accuracy and effectiveness of the recommendations.

Influencing Factors of Facebook Algorithm

The Facebook algorithm evaluates the quality and relevance of each piece of content based on different signals that fall into the following categories:

The content itself: type, topic, length, quality, etc.

Content publisher: Relationship with the user, frequency of interaction, reputation, etc.

Content recipients: interest, behavior, feedback, etc. related to the content.

Environmental factors: time, place, device, etc.

Based on these signals, the Facebook algorithm determines the importance or attractiveness of each piece of content to the user and assigns a score to each piece of content, which is then sorted according to the level of the score and displayed to the user.

Advantages and drawbacks of Facebook algorithm

Facebook algorithm has the following advantages:

Improve user experience: Increase user engagement and satisfaction by personalizing and diversifying content recommendations to increase the time users spend on the platform.

Increase advertising revenue: By displaying advertisements that are more in line with users' interests and needs, the click rate and conversion rate of advertisements can be increased, thus increasing the effect and return of advertisers' investment.

Optimize platform operation: Filter out low-quality or non-compliant content by evaluating the quality and relevance of the content to protect the safety and rights of the platform and users.

The Facebook algorithm also suffers from the following flaws:

Reduced information diversity: Recommending content that matches the user's viewpoint and preferences results in users being exposed to less different or opposing information, creating an information cocoon or echo chamber effect.

Increased information bias: Subjective or unfair assessment of content that affects the likelihood of users seeing certain information or viewpoints, resulting in information manipulation or censorship.

Decrease human autonomy: By guiding and influencing users invisibly or unconsciously, weakening their ability and willingness to make decisions and choices on their own.

Taken together, Facebook algorithms are powerful and sophisticated computer programs that can provide users with personalized and diverse content recommendations, but they can also have some negative impacts. Therefore, users should keep a clear and critical mind when using Facebook, do not blindly believe or accept the content given by the algorithm, but make their own judgments and choices so as not to be controlled or misled by the algorithm.

How Foreign Trade Enterprises Adapt to Facebook Algorithm

In order to adapt to the Facebook algorithm, foreign trade companies can adopt the following strategies:

Produce discussion-provoking content: When producing content, you should consciously create topics that can provoke discussion among users, so as to comply with the recommendation logic of the Facebook algorithm.

Balance original and other people's content: Adopt an appropriate ratio of 80% original content and 20% sharing other people's content, while ensuring the reliability and attractiveness of the content.

Use live video to increase engagement: Facebook algorithm prioritizes live video, which foreign trade companies can use to increase user engagement.

Develop a video strategy: Develop a comprehensive video strategy, quality local videos will still lead the way in Facebook.

Selectively share content: Selectively share content that matches the platform and audience, avoiding headline-grabbing, cheat likes and over-marketing content.

With these strategies, foreign trade businesses can better adapt to the Facebook algorithm and increase exposure and user engagement on the platform.